Mr. Will (he says people don't refer to him as "Reverend", although maybe I meant "Revised" ...) has once again chastised me for not having my page started- after all it is the 2nd of the month. Life is busy, I have things to do!
So now my fourth December page has begun, the start of yet more... yes, more to come! Such a poet am I.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.- Matthew 6:34
OOOPS!!
December got kind of mixed up... I created my December page and wrote the very amusing note above on the 2nd, however I didn't get around to adding a link to it from my home page until the 3rd but, alas, it was too late! My ftp (file transfer protocol) service was down for the weekend while they upgraded and moved their servers... no access for me and all of my great creative energies for a whole weekend- yikes!
I did busy myself with some other things, and my mind was abuzz with ideas, although none come to me just now. :) However, our wedding announcement did appear in the local paper and I copied it for posterity- you can link to it by clicking on the gasping ape. Thank you for your interest; more free-floating ideas later.
"Words ought to be a little wild, for they are the assaults of thoughts on the unthinking."- John Maynard Keynes
I listened to a Chris Rock comedy clip on the radio as I drove home tonight. He talked about how selling and profiting from drugs is ok if you are white, and people dying from drug use is ok if the seller is white.
In the last century it was ok to sell and profit considerably from "bootlegging", in which many prominent families participated. It is ok to make, maufacture, sell and profit from alcohol use. It is ok to grow, sell and profit from tobacco use- not only ok, our country will provide subsidies to boot. Let's see, how many people die each year from alcohol use and abuse? How many from smoking tobacco? How many from not even smoking but being near a person who smokes tobacco? Yet, these are legal drugs and the people who sell and profit from them are not criminals. What is the basis for the distinctions we make between "good" and "bad" substances? Or between "good" and "bad" people? Interesting.
At the same time people actively dying cannot use marijuana to relieve pain, increase appetite or decrease nausea. They are told they must stick with legal drugs, regardless of any lack of efficacy or the presence side effects. And at the same time Americans are not supposed to get their prescription medications from Canada- medications made in America. The government is debating now if it is possible to ensure that these medications made in the United States are safe to bring back in to our country (it is ok to import injectable flu vaccines that were not made in our country...). Please explain, who is being protected? Why do we have to import our own products rather than selling them to ourselves for the price they are sold to other countries for? Why do we have to worry about terminally ill people using "gateway" drugs to relieve some of their pain and suffering?
All of this is beyond the fathoming of my meager brain cells, best left up to the intellectuals and companies running our government. Sigh.
"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread." - Anatole France, The Red Lily, 1894
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has some nice photos to look at and buy. This one caught my eye- click on the "reality" photo (left) to go to the PI home page.
I finished up my Christmas cards today, the 11th, and will get them in the mail on Monday. Once again I wrote up a little letter to include about ME and MY life- hmm, yes, continuing to be more than a bit narcissistic... click on the holly to see it if you wish. I included with the cards a few photos, but they were ones gleaned from those posted at the begining of November and the good one of Kira from Thanksgiving.
'Tis the season to be busy.
"I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb ... and I'm also not blonde."- Dolly Parton
What fun- click on flying santa above to go to movie I made...
That Night: "When I saw the leaves on the trees curl and turn black and birds fall dead out of the sky, I knew that this was Death, come among us as foretold. My regret is that I survived."
The picture to the left links to the NPR story that took me to the site where I got this quote and both pictures... the picture at right links directly to that site.
The NPR story on the radio had caught my ear when the man talked of being a boy in India at the time (1984) of the gas leak in Bhopal and spoke of how the people affected by this tragedy would never have come in contact with him because of the class system there. What an interesting, messed up world, a world in which none of us has a monopoly on being f****d up.
"The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within."- Mahatma Gandhi
My mother was dead for five years before I knew that I loved her very much.- Lillian Hellman
"Each day it helps us to remember that we are always changing. Whatever is most clear to us today or is most prominent in our feelings - the difficulties we may be having with parents, wives or lovers, the worries we have about our children - is a part of an unfolding of events we cannot foresee. Just when we think we know exactly the direction things are going, they surprise us with change. Relationships continue to evolve and mature as we do. Even when separated from loved ones, our relationships may improve because we continue to grow."
From the Hazelden site.
It has been a busy December- what's new? It has struck me that we are so
busy at the end of the year with holiday stuff and are also presented with lots of treats to eat, while at the same time the days are short and the dark is long and my body feels less energetic and wants to hibernate more... and eat more... yikes! What a serendipitous (is that a word?) coincidence, or something.
Christmas is drawing ever so near now and I have decided to bear electronic gifts to all who come here to read of them. The present at left is for women and the one at right is for men, so click a w a y...
"Life is one long process of getting tired."- Samuel Butler
I really enjoyed Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning, so much so that I have quite a few passages still bookmarked to remind me to pass them on...
"Naturally only a few people were capable of reaching spiritual heights. But a few were given the chance to attain human greatness even through their apparent worldly failure and death, an accomplishment which in ordinary circumstances they would never have achieved. To the others of us, the mediocre and the half-hearted, the words of Bismarck could be applied: 'Life is like being at the dentist. You always think that the worst is still to come, and yet it is over already.' Varying this, we could say that most men in a concentration camp believed that the real opportunities of life had passed. Yet, in reality, there was an opportunity and a challnege. One could make a victory of those experiences turning life into an inner triumph, or one could ignore the challenge and simply vegetate, as did a majority of the prisoners."
Hmmm, Viktor sets a high bar.
More later...
"Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you're alive, it isn't."- Richard Bach
Jay and I went to an action/adventure movie this last weekend- SpongeBob Squarepants- finally, some excitement and adventure on the big screen... it was fun.
We are heading very quickly toward my 51st day spent celebrating Christmas. Kira and Bambi are coming up Christmas Eve; haven't yet heard from Carrie...
"Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world."- George Bernard Shaw
Adapted from an e-mail Mary Bradley sent me (I was taken by the design made from keyboard symbols):
¸...¸ __/ /\____
,·´º o`·,/__/ _/\_ //____/\
```)¨(´´´ | | [1] | | [1]| | |[1] || |l±±±±
¸,.-·²°´ ¸,.-·~·~·-.,¸ `°²·-. :º°
One day her husband died, and on that clear, cold morning, in the
warmth of their bedroom, she was struck with the pain of learning
that sometimes there isn't any more. No more hugs, no more special moments
to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more "just one
minute". Sometimes what we care about the most gets all used up and goes
away, before we can say good-bye, say "I love you" one last time.
¸...¸ __/ /\____
,·´º o`·,/__/ _/\_ //____/\
```)¨(´´´ | | [1] | | [1]| | |[1] || |l±±±±
¸,.-·²°´ ¸,.-·~·~·-.,¸ `°²·-. :º°
So while we have time . . . it's best we love . . . and care
and fix it when it's broken . . . and heal it when sick. This is true for
marriage . . and old cars . . . and children with bad report cards and
dogs with bad hips and aging parents and grandparents. We keep them
because they are worth it, because we are worth it.
¸...¸ __/ /\____
,·´º o`·,/__/ _/\_ //____/\
```)¨(´´´ | | [1] | | [1]| | |[1] || |l±±±±
¸,.-·²°´ ¸,.-·~·~·-.,¸ `°²·-. :º°
Life is important, life is the people we know who are special . . . and so, keep them close!
Thank you for being a special part of my life.
"The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever."- Anatole France (1844 - 1924)
Well, before talking about Christmas and good things, I must relieve myself of significant frustration...
The three credit reporting agencies are now required to provide you with a free copy of the information they have about you that they are making money off of by supplying it for a fee to all comers- virtually. This began being implemented in the western states December 1st and is being implemented for the whole country in stages, by geographical area.
I highly recommend that you take the time to get your own report, as I have found the inaccuracies to be gross. The misinformation they supply and make money off of would be considered libelous and/or fraudulent if it were not being done to make money and thereby is considered holy in our country. In short, it has pissed me off and Jay suggested I write about it (maybe rather than continuing to explain my frustrations to him...). The picture or banner above links to the site where you can initiate your request, however if you are like me and the information they have about you is inaccurate it becomes difficult to get your information because they verify that you are actually you by comparing the information you provide about yourself with the inaccurate information they have and when these two don't jibe (duh!) they say you are not you. Sounds like a novel from the '60s or something...
TransUnion had almost all of my information correct, except for the name of the road I live on. Experian had a great deal of incorrect information about me, including four other versions of my social security number and I have requested an "investigation" of those discrepancies. Experian has the largest report- reams and reams of paper, with only a couple of items that are correct. They list my current address as a former address and list my old house in Mukilteo as my current address- where I haven't lived for going on three years. They list me as having four mortgages- of which I have none. It goes on and on, and to top it off I have to compile it all and submit their errors back to them, including a copy of my driver's license to verify where I live. Hmmm, one would wonder where it is they get their information from since it appears to not be from public records. One, or at least me, would think that they would be the ones who would have to verify the information about me, rather than the other way around.
By the way, you can also "opt out" of their program of providing information, for a price, to companies about you without your permission- that is where all of the "pre-approved" mail solicitations come from. You have to contact each credit report company and request in writing to not be part of this "program". It is interesting to me that you don't have to give permission for the credit bureaus to hand out your private information, for a fee, yet if you want to see your own information you can only get it for free once a year- and that is a new "right".
Yee gadd! Or some such expletive...
Oh, by the way, when I put this on my page and checked the link to the credit report request site I found that it gives an error message because you are not supposed to link to that site for "security purposes". Yes, I feel secure.
Reality is not only stranger than we suppose but stranger than we can suppose.- JBS Haldane
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered . . .
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives . . .
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies . . .
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you . . .
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight . . .
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous . . .
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow . . .
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough . . .
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God . . .
It was never between you and them anyway.
Written by . . . Mother Teresa
Click on the melting snowman to see Christmas pictures... Happy Days to all!!
This is a great picture of Kate!
Kate is an administrative assistant in my office and, like Jay, is a veggie. She has turned me on to several good recipes and bestowed upon me a gift of grits recently, for a yummy treat.
Just before Christmas last week Kate brought in a dice game she had picked up at a garage sale- Pig Mania. She said that she used to play it in the '70s and so was getting a kick from its reappearance in her life. Check it out- instead of dice you shake and throw out two little plastic pigs from the canister and you get points according to how they land. The picture at right is of the bottom of the box where it shows different positions the pigs might land in and how to score them. Kate was right, it is a kick. The Pig Mania pictures link to a game collectibles site and ebay...
"I'll walk where my own nature would be leading--It vexes me to choose another guide. . . ."- Emily Bronte
Ok, guess there's a pig thing going on...
If you click the picture at left it will take you to an article in the Everett Herald about a barbecue place in the local historic town of Snohomish. Apparently they painted what appears to be an innocent mural on their building that includes pigs and the town fathers don't like the picture- of course they don't, as the pigs are naked... very interesting, weird, and interesting.
In America, sex is an obsession; in other parts of the world it's a fact.- Marlene Dietrich (1901 - 1992)
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Yikes!! So much life...
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Pictures link to somewhere in the cyberworld, go ahead...click.
